Edit from the future (2025): This post’s points are now outdated according to my current thoughts, given technological developments since.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is a loaded term. When it was first used, it would refer to the abilities of computers to play perfect-information games like chess. But now that is “old tech,” and we don’t consider that as much a part of AI. In fact, I contend that AI has always been the term used to refer to the bleeding edge of computer science at any given moment. It’s why we might never “solve” or “figure out” AI, since once we figure out AI today, the term AI will just be redefined tomorrow to be the new horizon to reach for.
Nevertheless, AI has taken on a distinct character recently that might prompt us to consider a closer definition of AI in terms of what it means today. This is the question we will investigate now.
